


Of lions and metaphorical elephants

by J_Bell



Category: Kaleido Star
Genre: F/M, Gossip, Lion King (1994) References, Post-Finale, slight crack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-15 00:33:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5764882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Bell/pseuds/J_Bell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Swan Lake, Mia takes a writing course that introduces her to Shakespeare. Marion, meanwhile, has connections. Kalos sells his soul to Disney Execs, Yuri calls Layla and Leon finally kisses Sora.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of lions and metaphorical elephants

It all started when Mia, six months into the long season of _Swan Lake_ , went to a writers’ seminar with Cathy, and got kicked out during in the first three minutes, because she had never read Shakespeare. She quickly remedied that by staying awake for seven nights on a row reading until her eyes bled; then crying, because she never needed to think up a story again; this British dude already had all the stories in the world, and they were free for the taking.

 

Kalos thought the idea of doing _Hamlet_ superb. The setting was cheap, the costumes could be minimal, and Sora would get a much needed break from main roles and complicated manoeuvres; Leon would get the spotlight, maybe even Yuri could be persuaded to play the Ghost, maybe Claudius.

 

Layla laughed heartily upon hearing that bit.

 

The twist came when Marion, of all people, called The Disney Exec. Which, it being the eleven-year-old girl, nobody had taken seriously. Then Kalos got the call. Disney wanted a partnership. _The Lion King_ anniversary, a one-night-only deal in Downtown Disney, then a full season at Kaleido Stage; they’d provide the costumes, settings, extra cast, _money_. In for the publicity. Oh, and Layla Hamilton and Yuri Killian, and Sora Naegino and Leon Oswald, or no deal.

 

Kalos said yes, yes, yes, and definitely _yes_. Then he put down the phone and looked at Yuri with the eeriest smile the young man had ever seen his boss sporting.

 

“You’re going back onstage,” he said.

 

Yuri blinked. “I am?”

 

“Yes, you are,” Kalos nodded. “And call Layla.”

 

“Why?” he chuckled. “Is _she_ going on stage, too?”

 

“ _Yes_ ,” Kalos said in a tone that broke no argument. Yuri, amused, did as told.

 

~~~

 

Mia’s casting was something to behold, Leon thought. Yuri and Layla would play Mufasa and Sarabi, while May had been delegated to playing Scar, the vengeful uncle. Rosetta was cast as Young Simba, and Marion as Young Nala – not a bad piece of casting, just an obvious one. Sora was, of course, Adult Nala, and Leon himself, as Adult Simba, was less happy. Playing the title role in _Hamlet_ was one thing; now, playing a _lion_ …

 

“I love it,” Sora said enthusiastically, putting on her Nala headpiece. “Isn’t it lovely?”

 

She _did_ look lovely in soft golden leotard, an innocuous tail hanging from her bottom, and a small lioness headpiece. Leon told her so.

 

Sora blushed. “I like your costume, too.”

 

Leon scoffed. He too wore a gold leotard with a ubiquitous tail, but his headpiece, unlike hers, had a _mane_ , which made it impossible for him to basically _do_ anything. He said as much. Who in their right minds thought this was an appropriate dress for a _circus_ performer?

 

Sora merely laughed and told him that was the reason they were rehearsing in costume since day one. He shrugged in a bad mood and accompanied her to the training room, where Sarah awaited to rehearse her singing while they danced on the swings.

 

Sir Elton John’s masterpiece was to be a dance around the stage, first on the trapezes, then down a waterfall into the trampolines, then some ground choreographed routines. And the song wasn’t even that long. What frustrated Mia the most, though, was that the stage set up at Disney was _so well-built_ people would actually be able to see the performers’ facial expressions. Thus, by the end of the first couple runs through the routine, Leon and Sora were already tired of hearing that

 

“You are each other’s _love of your lives!_ More emotion, less technique! I need to be able _to feel the love!_ ”

 

The joke wore off rather quickly. Mia decided they needed to turn down the lights, put the song on repeat, and she’d leave them alone – read, _locked in the training room_ – for about an hour.

 

In the near darkness, Leon could see Sora blushing. “So,” he began awkwardly. “What do we do now?”

 

Sora shrugged minutely. “Rehearse the ground choreography?”

 

“Sure.”

 

On the other side of the door, Mia slapped herself in the face.

 

~~~

 

“So,” Layla said through half-closed eyes. “We’re performing together again.”

 

“Coerced into it, no less,” Yuri agreed with a smile. “How do you feel about that?”

 

She shrugged. “No flying routines for me, I’d say my casting is almost… decorative.”

 

Yuri chuckled. “Layla Hamilton could never be _decorative_. You will be the jewel of this show. You’re the one that will tie the two parts of the play together. It’s to rescue you that Simba comes back to the Pridelands and saves the world, basically.”

 

Layla ruffled his hair fondly. “You _do_ know how to make me feel better about being a secondary character, don’t you?”

 

Yuri kissed he nape of her neck. “I’m just _so_ glad you’re back.”

 

Layla sighed contentedly in his arms. “So am I.”

 

~~~

 

By the eighth time on the third day of rehearsal that the song started playing _again_ , Leon called for a pause on the ground routine. There was something he wanted to try. Likewise exhausted, Sora simply nodded. “Sure, what?”

 

“A kiss.”

 

She froze. “A-at the end of the routine? T-that might be nice! It’d be a culmination of all the love that Mia says the audience is supposed to be feeling!”

 

“…No,” Leon said, also blushing, and being for the first time thankful for the lowered lights. “I mean now. We should kiss now.”

 

“Oh. Now?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“…Why?”

 

She was shaking. He was shaking, too. “Because the audience won’t _feel the love_ unless we… can fake it well enough, if you will.”

 

“Fake it?”

 

“Act,” he amended. “Pretend. Make it look real.”

 

“I see…” she said, though she didn’t really. “I s-suppose we… Yeah, just–“

 

He leaned down and touched his lips to hers. Sora remained frozen. Leon tried to hold her, but it didn’t help. He pulled away.

 

“Now try to kiss me,” he said, his hand _not_ shaking as he held her. _No_.

 

Sora was positively pink. She stood on her toes and pressed her lips clumsily to his for a total of ten seconds.

 

Leon, _not_ equally resembling a beet, sighed. “Try opening your mouth a little. And to relax.”

 

They kissed again. And again. And for several repetitions of the song. And Sora never told him it had been her first kiss, or that she loved how warm he felt. Like he never told her how soft she was, or how nice she smelled, or how odd her tongue tasted. They kissed until they could kiss without shaking, which was a very long time indeed.

 

~~~

 

As main protagonist during the second half of the play, Leon sadly had scenes with basically every other cast member, including May, which meant he could not spend every morning kissing Sora in the dark. A real pity. Good thing was, he was clever with swords, for the final fight scene, and a virtuoso at everything else, so the only real difficulty lay in coordinating his amazingness – as Sora put it, with the most dazzling of smiles – with everyone else’s.

 

Yuri’s, as one might expect, was the hardest one. They had _one_ scene together, in which neither was actually expected to do much – the main action lay with supporting cast members, playing – of all roles – grass, wind, clouds, wisps etc. The idea was that the whole setting was alive, and James Earl Jones’ voice booming through the speakers would wrap everything up. _Remember who you are_ …

 

“A beautiful scene,” the younger man noted casually, “don’t you think?”

 

Leon shrugged aristocratically, to which Yuri laughed. “You’re not really getting into character, you know. That’s why Mia has been on your case like mad.”

 

Leon looked offended. “You think _I’m_ not in character?”

 

“Well, you’re supposed to be looking at me in awe and longing,” Yuri chuckled. “And did you just imply that _I’m_ not in character?”

 

It was Leon’s turn to chuckle darkly. “You’re hardly the inspiring father figure, aren’t you?”

 

Yuri looked actually shocked, and left rehearsals for the day. Leon commented the fact with Sora as she came to the cafeteria for dinner that evening, where just about every cast member but them was dressed in parts of a huge elephant.

 

“Oh!” she exclaimed and dropped her fork. She leaned in conspiringly. “Do you think it has anything to do with… _you know_ …?”

 

Leon was honestly puzzled. “With what?”

 

Sora blushed. “With Layla-san. As in, Layla-san _and_ Yuri-san.”

 

He munched on this piece of gossip. Then it hit him. “You mean Layla…”

 

Sora blushed a shade pinker and shook her head furiously. “ _Of course not!_ ”

 

“But they are…”

 

“Yes,” she nodded. “She’s been living in his flat since she got back.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Leon suddenly forgot all about Yuri and Layla and _looked_ at Sora, and she _looked_ back at him. Both of them blushed scarlet.

 

“Sora?”

 

“Yes, Leon?”

 

“Can we get the metaphorical elephant out of the room and go out for dinner tomorrow night?”

 

Sora, through all the blood in her body rushing to her face, grinned. “I’d love to.”

 

~~~

 

“I don’t think I can play this part.”

 

Layla turned over to stare at him. “Why not?”

 

“I don’t know how to be an inspirational father figure.”

 

Layla rolled her eyes. “Don’t be dramatic, Yuri. It’s just a part. You are also no Venetian, fairy tale prince or a pirate, and yet you’ve played all of them. This is no different.”

 

Yuri looked at her askance. “What do you mean, I’m not a prince?” he winked. “Here I thought I was _your_ prince…”

 

She accepted the kiss, but pulled back too soon. “What’s this about?”

 

He shook his head. “My father. Freud says that everything is about fathers, doesn’t he?”

 

“Mothers, actually. But go on.”

 

Yuri sighed. “Perhaps you’re right. I should just approach this as any other part. As a lion. Do you think I’m overthinking this?”

 

Layla smiled felinely. “Yes, _my king_. Now get back to bed before I decide to go back to rehearsal, which you kidnapped me from, I might add.”

 

Yuri laughed. “As my queen commands.”

 

~~~

 

“Did you hear?”

 

“What?”

 

“Sora and Leon went on a date last night!”

 

“No way!”

 

“Yes way!! It’s finally happening!”

 

“And do you know who showed up at the lionesses’ rehearsal the day before yesterday? Yuri!”

 

“Really? Why?”

 

“He just went in, plucked Layla by the hand and walked out!”

 

“O.M.G.!”

 

“And guess what, nobody saw them for the rest of the day!”

 

“You know, I _had_ noticed they’ve been coming in together every morning…”

 

“It’s all _so romantic!_ ”

 

“I know!”

 

“But, gee, what about _May?_ ”

 

“Argh, _who cares_ about May?”

 

“Hm, you’re right. Nobody does.”

 

~~~

 

When she got back to her dorm that night, twirling in her sparkly dress and happy and light as she scarcely remembered being, Fool was sitting on her pillow.

 

“Soooo…” He asked mischievously. “How was your date?”

 

Sora picked him up and began twirling with him. “It was _magical!_ We went to this _amazing_ Japanese/French fusion restaurant, the food was _amazing_ , and Réon-kun was just so… so…!”

 

Fool promptly hit the wall when Sora released him. “Amazing?” he asked.

 

“ _Yes!_ ” she sighed happily falling into her bed, still dressed and eyes brimming with happy tears. “Fuuru… I think I’m in love!”

 

The abused Spirit of the Stage smiled at his charge. “Then sleep well, my Star. Tomorrow those execs come to see the preview of your show, and you must shine as brightly as always.”

 

Sora actually kissed him as he pulled the covers over her.

 

~~~

 

Kalos sat by The Exec – as he called the woman sitting next to him on the nearly empty audience seats – and tried not to sweat. The show was beautiful, absolutely amazing, as Sora would put it; and his star-filled cast was simply stunning in their performances.

 

During the first act Layla shone like a jewel of elegance and contained power, while Yuri indulged both his playful and domineering sides. Marion’s performance had bite more than sweetness, which worked for the character, and Rosetta was simply spectacular, a lion cub ready to rule the world.

 

The second act, though – no one could have seen the second act coming. Leon might just be up for a MASTER. His playfulness as he interacted with the Disney-sent cast members playing Timon and Pumbaa, his vulnerability as he interacted with Sora’s incredibly strong Nala, his outright rage against May’s slippery Scar… Frankly, Kalos had supervised the script, been to every single large rehearsal and talked through every minor detail with _everyone_ , and he was at the edge of his seat, _crying_ , when Sarah and the Disney-sent singers sang their final notes and the lights were turned off. A _truly_ remarkable performance, strong and sensitive and exhilarating.

 

Expectantly, he turned to The Exec. “What did you think?”

 

The woman pursed her lips. “Is there any possibility Layla Hamilton might switch roles with Sora Naegino?”

 

Kalos blinked. “…No. Layla has been severely injured in the past and is unequal to the physical requirements of Sora’s part.”

 

The Exec nodded thoughtfully. “We need more sparkle. You know, to make it more family friendly. Also, less kissing.”

 

Kalos tried, and failed, to contain his smile. “It was improv.”

 

She frowned, then nodded. “Fine. It’s approved. We’ll contact you with further instructions later this week.”

 

~~~

 

At the cocktail party, Layla had opted for a simple, elegant dark blue gown, and Yuri had matched his tie to its colour. Leon admitted to Sora to being quite envious of the idea, to which she replied he’d look amazing in a shimmering pink tie.

 

The Exec called for a toast, and herself delivered a speech which was all about the numbers: sold out, millions here, millions there, sold out- _er_ , billions of visitors, astronomic success, no thanks spared to any of the wonderful people involved. Kalos raised his glass next for a shorter speech, more about the effort than about the money – though he _was_ rolling in money now –, and which received generally warmer applause.

 

Yet another toast was raised to the performers, each and every one of them, and specially the main ones etc, etc, etc. By the time the applause had finally died down Layla and Yuri’s conspicuous absence was noted. Sora, her hair up in a bun and bangs flapping as she shook her head, giggled into her hand. Leon leaned in closer to ask her what the big secret was. Sora smiled a blush at him.

 

“Layla-san found a ring box in one of Yuri-san’s socks the night we came to Orlando, so she decided to propose to him on the balcony outside before he could do it in front of everybody after the toasts.”

 

Leon blinked, blushed, shook his head, and finally smiled. “Not one for public displays of affection?”

 

Sora took him to mean Layla, not herself. “Not at all. Did I tell you about that time we made her a surprise birthday cake after a performance? She was _so_ angry…”

 

Leon nodded as if paying attention to her story, one hand surreptitiously going into his pocket and closing around a heart-shaped box. Later, he told himself, when they were alone, he’d ask.


End file.
